The 87th annual commencement exercises will take place on Friday, May 23, 2014, at 6 p.m. in the Diamond Physical Education Center, followed by a reception for students and their families. Your participation makes a great difference to our campus community as we celebrate our students’ achievements. We are pleased to announce that Congressman Jared Huffman will be the speaker for College of Marin’s 87th Annual Commencement Ceremony honoring the Class of 2014.

General Information

Caps and GownsOrder online at Jostens and click on the blue get started button below Graduation Caps and Gowns. A prompt will ask you to enter College of Marin. Again click on the blue get started button. The deadline to order your cap and gown is Friday, April 25, 2014. You DO NOT pay on line; you will pay when you pick up your cap & gown packet in the Student Services Building, Student Affairs Office, room 250, starting May 19 through May 22, 2014. The price is $30, no cash; make check or money order payable to MCCD.

If you have questions about placing your online order, please call Jostens at 800.854.7464.
If you have questions regarding picking up your order please call 415.485.9376.

AnnouncementsFrom April 15 through May 22, you may obtain your complimentary packet of 5 announcements in the Student Affairs Office (Student Services Building, Room 250) from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. You may also order additional announcements through Jostens website.

Photographs
Grad Images will take your picture when you cross and exit the platform. Soon after commencement, the company will send you proofs of your pictures and their contact information. To receive your proof, you must sign the release on the RSVP postcard that was sent with your graduation packet. Make certain that your address is current. You are not obligated to buy the photographs.

Flowers
A vendor will sell flowers in the Diamond Physical Education Center, near the ceremony.

Children
Children are welcome to attend this wonderful celebration of your accomplishment. However, keep in mind the ceremony may last an hour and children may become restless.

Disability Accommodations
A sign language interpreter team will sign during the ceremony. If students or guests need other accommodations, please call (415) 485-9376 by May 10, 2013. Marshals will be available to guide you to a designated disabled seating area as you enter the Diamond Physical Education Center Gymnasium.

ReceptionFollowing the ceremony, you, your family, and friends are invited to a reception located in the Diamond Physical Education Center Quad Area. You will have a chance to talk with friends and faculty at this reception. The Associated Students of the College of Marin (ASCOM) sponsor’s this reception.

Read the following information carefully and bring it with you to commencement. We will not have a commencement rehearsal, so it is important that you follow these instructions. Note: Leave your valuables (purses, backpacks, etc.) with your family or friends. There is no place to store them securely.

Arrival Time and Location
Graduating students will begin checking-in at 5:00 p.m. Report to the Diamond Physical Education Center. Follow directional signs to the graduate check-in area. Check-in ends at exactly 5:30 p.m. No one can check-in after 5:30 p.m. Do not be late; the ceremony begins at exactly 6:00 p.m. and should last approximately one hour.

Processional and Seating
Commencement marshals will escort graduating students into the Diamond Physical Education Center Gymnasium. Everyone will remain standing through the National Anthem. Male graduates should remove their caps at the beginning of the anthem and replace them after the anthem.

Caps and Gowns
Wear or bring your regalia to the commencement. Remember, the caps, gowns, and tassels are yours to keep after the commencement exercises. Wear your cap straight so that it covers your forehead and place your tassel on the right side of your cap.

Name Cards
You will receive your name card when you check in. Make certain that you keep it with you. You will give the name card to the reader when you approach the stage. The reader will announce your name as you walk across the stage.

Presentation of Candidates
The reader will ask the A.A., A.S., certificates candidates and Marin County Office of Education certificate of completion students to rise. You are to remain standing until the college president asks you to sit down. Marshals will direct students to the platform row by row. When you receive your diploma cover, exit the stage, pause to allow the professional photographer to take your picture, then quickly return to your seat and sit down. After all graduates are seated, the vice president will ask you to move your tassel from the right side of your cap to the left side.

Recessional
Graduates will stand when the recessional music begins. The platform party will lead the recessional, followed by the faculty, and then the graduates. Commencement marshals will direct your exit, starting with the first row of students.

Receiving Line
Faculty will form a receiving line to greet you and bid you farewell. Go to the reception area after you have moved through the receiving line.

Processional Line OrderThe faculty grand marshal and Cari Torres, Interim Vice President of Student Learning will lead the processional march from PE 23, to the seating area on the platform. Marshals will guide you to your respective seating area.

Commencement OpeningThe faculty grand marshal will announce the opening of the ceremony. You will remain standing until the conclusion of the national anthem. Men should remove their caps during the anthem.

Recessional Line
When the ceremony is finished, the platform party will exit the stage first, followed by faculty and administrators (refer to map, PDF). Commencement marshals will guide you. The faculty and administrators will form a receiving line for the graduates to walk through. Encourage students to keep moving through to the reception area.

RegaliaReturn your caps and gowns to the Diamond Physical Education Center, Room 23. Return your regalia to the hanger with your name on it. It is important that you keep gowns and hoods together to ensure that you have the right hood for your school and academic field.

Reception
Following the commencement exercises light refreshments will be served in the Diamond Physical Education Center, Quad Area. Our students and their guests look forward to you joining them for photographs.

Arrival Time
Guests may begin arriving at 4:45 p.m. Please arrive no later than 5:45 p.m. The ceremony will begin promptly at 6:00 p.m.

Seating
Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis, no tickets are required. Please follow commencement marshals directions to guest seating areas. Once you have been seated, please remain in your seats, so that the ceremony can proceed without interruptions.

Recessional
Please remain standing and allow the faculty and students to exit the stage area first. Commencement marshals will direct your exit. Go directly to the reception area. Students will join their guests after they greet their instructors.

Photographs
Follow the commencement marshals direction for taking photographs. We ask that no one block aisles or stay for an extended time near the front of the stage. Guests will have many chances to take photographs before and after the ceremony.

Reminder: A professional photographer will take pictures of students as they cross and exit the platform.

Representative Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) was sworn in as a member of the 113th Congress on January 3, 2013 to represent California’s second district. The district spans from the Golden Gate Bridge north to the Oregon border, covering six counties including all of Marin, Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte, and much of Sonoma Counties. Huffman is a member of the Committee on Natural Resources and the House Budget Committee.

Prior to his election to Congress, Huffman served six years in the California State Assembly where he authored more than 60 pieces of successful legislation and received numerous awards for his legislative leadership. Huffman chaired the Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee, served on the Budget Committee and was co-chair of the Legislative Environmental Caucus.

Prior to his election to public office, Huffman was a Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). One of his proudest accomplishments at NRDC was helping forge an agreement to restore a 153-mile stretch of the San Joaquin River in California’s Central Valley. Before he joined NRDC, Huffman was a successful public interest attorney whose victories included several major jury verdicts in gender discrimination and race discrimination trials. He also served as a Director of Marin County’s largest special district, the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD), from 1994 to 2006.

Huffman graduated magna cum laude from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he was also a three-time NCAA All-American volleyball player. He went on to play for the USA Volleyball Team in 1987 when the team was ranked #1 in the world, before attending and graduating cum laude from Boston College Law School. Huffman lives in Marin with his wife Susan and their two children, Abby and Nathan. In his free time, Huffman enjoys all types of fishing, as well as tennis and home winemaking.

College of Marin is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges and is one of 112 public community colleges in California. Approximately 11,000 credit and noncredit students enroll annually.

College of Marin students seeking instruction related disability accommodations should contact the DSPS Office, (415) 485-9406. Individuals seeking special assistance to accommodate a disability may call the Student Affairs Office, (415) 485-9376.